Northeast Iowa – More than 2,200 students now have an opportunity, they may have
otherwise missed, to learn firsthand about Iowa’s rich agricultural heritage. During the
second year of the Silos & Smokestacks National Heritage Area (SSNHA) Bus Grant
Program, $10,000 has been awarded to 40 schools within the Heritage Area; helping
cover the costs of field study trips to 25 different SSNHA partner sites.
The Bus Grant Program, which is part of the SSNHA Education Scholarship Fund, helps
cover transportation costs of field study trips to designated SSNHA partner sites. Grants
are awarded on a first-received, first-funded basis to accredited Pre K-12 public, private
or charter schools located in the Heritage Area; with a maximum of $350 per school
building.
“With the high cost of gas and tightening school budgets, we are proud to offer schools
the opportunity to visit cultural institutions within the Heritage Area,” commented
SSNHA President, Don Short. “In many cases, without these funds students would miss
the opportunity to feed a goat, milk a cow or walk through a tall grass prairie.”
Schools receiving grants include: Anamosa High School, Anamosa; Bellevue
Community Schools, Bellevue; Northeast Hamilton, Blairsburg; All Saints School, Cedar
Rapids; Erskine Elementary, Cedar Rapids; Grant Early Childhood Education Center,
Cedar Rapids; Lincoln Elementary, Charles City; Washington Elementary, Charles City;
Clarksville Community School, Clarksville; Coggen Elementary School, Coggen; St.
Joseph School, DeWitt; Eleanor Roosevelt Middle School, Dubuque; Robert Blue
Middle School, Eagle Grove; Central School, Elkader; Dallas Center-Grimes School,
Grimes; Hampton-Dumont Middle School, Hampton; Jesup Community School, Jesup;
Cardinal Elementary, Maquoketa; MFL MarMac, Monana; Nashua-Plainfield
Elementary, Nashua; Benton Community Schools, Norway; Oelwein Middle School,
Oelwein; Peosta Elementary School, Peosta; Preston Elementary, Preseton; Riceville
Community School, Riceville; Shell Rock Elementary, Shell Rock; Solon Community
School District, Solon; Rolling Green Elementary, Urbandale; Walker Elementary
School, Walker; Blessed Sacrament, Waterloo; Lincoln Elementary, Waterloo;
McKinstry Elementary, Waterloo; Sacred Heart, Waterloo; St. Edward, Waterloo;
Waterville Elementary, Waterville; East Elementary School, Waukon; Carey Elementary,
Waverly; Southeast Elementary, Waverly Shell Rock District, Waverly; St. Pauls
Lutheran School, Waverly; and North Fayette Community School District, West Union.
SSNHA is currently working to raise funds for the 2009-2010 school year. For more
information on the program or to donate to the SSNHA Education Scholarship Fund,
contact (319) 234-4567.
Silos & Smokestacks National Heritage Area is one of 40 federally designated heritage
areas in the nation and is an Affiliated Area of the National Park Service. The Heritage
Area covers 37 counties in the northeast quadrant of Iowa. Interstate 80 borders it on
the south and Interstate 35 borders it on the west. Through a network of sites, programs
and events, SSNHA interprets farm life, agribusiness and rural communities – past and
present. To learn more about SSNHA, please visit www.silosandsmokestacks.org.
Topics: Press Releases
